1. Physics 2 Chapter 12 problems Prepared by Vince Zaccone
For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB

2. An 8kg point mass and a 15kg point mass are held in place 50cm apart. A particle of mass m is released from a point between the two masses 20cm from the 8kg mass along the line connecting the two fixed masses. Find the magnitude and direction of the acceleration of the particle.
Prepared by Vince Zaccone
For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB

3. A uniform sphere with mass 60kg is held with its center at the origin, and a second uniform sphere with mass 80kg is held with its center at the point x=0, y=3m.
What are the magnitude and direction of the net gravitational force due to these objects on a third uniform sphere with mass 0.5kg placed at the point x=4m, y=0?
Where, other than infinitely far away, could the third sphere be placed such that the net gravitational force acting on it from the other two spheres is equal to zero?
Prepared by Vince Zaccone
For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB

4. An experiment is performed in deep space with two uniform spheres, one with mass 25kg, and the other with mass 100kg. They have equal radii, r=0.2m. The spheres are released from rest with their centers 40m apart. They accelerate toward each other because of their mutual gravitational attraction. You can ignore all gravitational forces other than that between the two spheres.
(a) Explain why linear momentum is conserved.
(b) When their centers are 20m apart, find
(i) the speed of each sphere and
(ii) the magnitude of the relative velocity with which one sphere is approaching the other.
(c) How far from the initial position of the center of the 25kg sphere do the surfaces of the two spheres collide?
Actually, their surfaces will touch before they get there. Subtract the radius of one of the spheres to get 31.9m
Prepared by Vince Zaccone
For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB

5. 12. 56 A landing craft with mass 12,500kg is in a circular orbit 5
A landing craft with mass 12,500kg is in a circular orbit 5.75x105m above the surface of a planet. The period of the orbit is 5800s. The astronauts in the lander measure the diameter of the planet to be 9.6x106m. The lander sets down at the north pole of the planet. What is the weight of a 85.6kg astronaut as he steps out onto the planet’s surface?
Prepared by Vince Zaccone
For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB

6. As Mars orbits the sun in its elliptical orbit, its distance of closest approach to the center of the sun (at perihelion) is 2.067x1011m, and its maximum distance from the center of the sun (at aphelion) is 2.492x1011m. If the orbital speed of Mars at aphelion is 2.198x104 m/s, what is the orbital speed at perihelion? (You can ignore the influence of the other planets.)
Prepared by Vince Zaccone
For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB